Blade lock for scissors

ABSTRACT

Locking means for a pair of scissors which have a straight cutting blade, a pinking blade and an intermediate combined straight cutting and pinking blade. The locking means comprises openings which extend laterally through each of the aforementioned blades which openings are aligned in a given pivotal position of the blades. A locking pin is located in the opening of the combined straight cutting and pinking blade and is slightly longer than this opening. The locking pin, therefore, alternately extends into the opening in either the straight cutting blade or the pinking blade. The combined straight cutting and pinking blade is alternately locked to the straight cutting blade or the pinking blade depending upon the opening in each of these blades into which the locking pin extends. Means are provided for moving the locking pin between the aforementioned positions. The foregoing abstract is merely a resume of one general application, is not a complete discussion of all principles of operation or applications, and is not to be construed as a limitation on the scope of the claimed subject matter.

United States Patent Kaplan [54] BLADE LOCK FOR SCISSORS [72] Inventor: Herman L-. Kaplan, Woodmere, N.Y.

[73] Assignee: Cole National Corporation [22] Filed: Apr. 22, 1970 [2l] Appl. No.: 30,748

52 U.S.Cl ..30/226 51 Int.Cl ..B26b 13/00 58 FieldofSearch ..30/226,271,254,176,197,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS [451 Mar. 28, 1972 [5 7] ABSTRACT Locking means for a pair of scissors which have a straight cutting blade, a pinking blade and an intermediate combined straight cutting and pinking blade. The locking means comprises openings which extend laterally through each of the aforementioned blades which openings are aligned in a given pivotal position of the blades. A locking pin is located in the opening of the combined straight cutting and pinking blade and is slightly longer than this opening. The locking pin, therefore, alternately extends into the opening in either the straight cutting blade or the pinking blade. The combined straight cutting and pinking blade is alternately locked to the straight cutting blade or the pinking blade depending upon the opening in each of these blades into which the locking pin extends. Means are provided for moving the locking pin between the aforementioned positions. The foregoing abstract is merely a resume of one general application, is not a complete discussion of all principles of operation or applications, and is not to be construed as a limitation on the scope of the claimed subject matter.

14 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures Patented March 28, 1972 3,651,573

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

l /errndn f wmws W Patented March 28, 1972 3,651,573

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 BLADE LOCK FOR SCISSORS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The prior art discloses cutting scissors which utilize a straight cutting blade and a pinking. blade with a combined straight cutting and pinking blade. An example of this prior art is disclosed in US Pat. No. 2,737,7l8 issued Mar. 13, 1956 in the name of H. I. Maunu. In this disclosure, a locking mechanism is provided to alternatively lock the combined blade to either the straight cutting blade or the pinking blade depending upon whether one using the scissors desires a straight cut or a pinking cut. The difficulty involved with the locking mechanism disclosed in the prior art is that it is rela-. tively cumbersome to manipulate, it is not completely reliable in operation and is relatively expensive to manufacture.

As a result of these above-enumerated difficulties, the present invention and disclosure directs itself to disclosing a locking means for the aforementioned type of scissors which is quick and easy to manipulate, which is reliable in performing its intended function, and which is economical to mass produce.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 7 The invention may be incorporated in a pair of scissors having a straight cutting blade, a pinking blade and a combined straight cutting and pinking blade sandwiched therebetween and all pivotally connected by a common pivot, the provision of locking means for selectively locking the combined blade to either the straight cutting blade or the pinking blade; said locking means comprising wall means defining openings extending through each of said blades which openings are in register with each other in the closed condition of the scissors, a locking pin residing in the opening in said combined blade and being slightly longer than the last mentioned opening, said locking pin being movable between a first position whereat the locking pin extends into the opening in the straight cutting blade to lock same to the combined blade and a second position whereat the locking pin extends into the opening in the pinking blade to lock same to the combined blade, a first actuating pin carried in the opening in the pinking blade and having one end portion engageable with said locking pin to move same to said first position and having another end portion extending exteriorly of said opening within which it resides whereat it may be manipulated by an operator of the scissors, a second actuating pin carried in the opening in the straight cutting blade and having one end portion engageable with said locking pin to move same to said second position and having another end portion extending exteriorly of said opening within which it resides whereat it may be manipulated by an operator of the scissors.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of this invention may be had by referring to the following description and claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an exploded isometric view of a pair of scissors incorporating the locking means of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the scissors as shown in FIG. 1, showing the scissors in open position and with the combined blade locked to the straight cutting blade so the scissors are in condition to perform a pinking cut;

FIG. 3 is a view taken generally along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view of the scissors shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 taken in a direction opposite the direction of FIG. 2 showing the combined blade locked to the pinking blade so the scissors are in condition to perform a straight cutting function;

FIG. 5 is a view taken generally along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4; and,

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view taken through the locking means with the scissors in the completely closed position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring specifically to the drawing, there is disclosed a pair of combined pinking and straight cutting scissors identified generally by the reference numeral 20 and these scissors are provided with a straight cutting blade 23 which has a straight cutting edge 24 and which terminates at the other end portion in a handle 25. The scissors also include a pinking blade 27 which is provided with a cutting edge 28 and which terminates at its opposite end in a handle 29. A combined straight cutting and pinking blade 31 is sandwiched between the two blades 23 and 27 and all of the blades are pivotally connected together by a common pivot means 35, the elements of which are clearly shown in the drawing. The combined blade 31 is provided with a straight cutting edge 32 as well as a pinking cutting edge 33.

The present invention is concerned with the provision of locking means indicated generally by the reference numeral 37 which accomplishes the function of locking the combined blade 31 to either the straight cutting blade 23 or the pinking blade 27 depending upon whether a straight cut or pinking cut is desired. The locking means comprises wall means which define a tapered opening 38 (See FIG. 6) which extends laterally through the straight cutting blade 23 as well as a tapered opening 40 which extends laterally through the pinking blade 27. The wall means referred to also provides an opening 42 which extends through the combined straight cutting and pinking blade 31. All three of these referred to openings are in line or are in register with each other in the closed condition of the scissors which is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 6 of the drawings.

A locking pin 46 (preferably of metal) resides in the straight opening 42 in the combined blade and as will be particularly noted in FIG. 6, this locking pin is slightly longer than the opening 42. This means that the pin 46 must extend, because of its length, either into the opening 38 in blade 23 or into opening 40 in blade 27. The locking pin may therefore be said to be movable to a first position whereat it resides in opening 42 and also extends into opening 38 in straight cutting blade 23 to lock the straight cutting blade to the combined blade 31. This condition is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The locking pin is movable to a second position (See FIGS. 4, 5 and 6) whereat the locking pin extends into the opening 40 in the pinking blade 27 to lock the pinking blade to the combined blade 31.

The aforementioned movement of the locking pin 46 between the first and second positions is actuated by first and second actuating pins 50 and 56, respectively, which preferably are constructed of a plastic material. The first actuating pin 50 is carried in the opening 40 in the pinking blade 27 and has an enlarged end 51 which is engageable with the locking pin as shown in the drawings, to move the locking pin to the first position. The actuating pin, opposite the enlarged end 51, has another end which extends exteriorly of the opening 40 so that the pin can be easily manipulated by an operator of the scissors. The second actuating pin 56 is carried in the opening 38 in the straight cutting blade 23 and also has an enlarged end 57 which is engageable with the opposite end of the locking pin 46 to move it to the second position. It likewise has an exposed end which extends exteriorly of the opening 38 so that it can be easily manipulated by an operator of the scissors.

It will be noted, particularly from reviewing FIG. 6, that the tapered openings 38 and 40 accomplish the function, in combination with the enlarged ends 51 and 57, of preventing the accidental removal of the actuating pins 51 and 56 from the openings. The small outer end of the tapered openings is smaller than the enlarged ends of the pins thereby accomplishing this function. Additionally the tapered openings accomplish the function of limiting the movement of the locking pin in its movement between the first and second positions which in turn limits the movement of the actuating pins. Movement of the actuating pins must be limited because if they travel too far and enter the opening 42, they then also perform a locking function which would lock all of the blades together preventing operation of the scissors.

In operation therefore, if it be desired to utilize the scissors to accomplish a pinking cut, the combined blade is locked to the straight cutting blade as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 and if 5 it be desired to accomplish a straight cut, the combined blade 31 is locked to the pinking blade 27 as illustrated in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6. The operator then manipulates the scissors in the same manner as conventional scissors which utilize only two blades.

The pivot means 35 has an axis 36 about which all three blades 23, 27 and 31 are pivotable. The locking means 37 has a translational axis 41 along which this locking means translates or reciprocates for the selective locking movement. Preferably the locking means is disposed close enough to the pivot means 35 so that the three pins 46, 50 and 56 of the locking means 37 cannot fall out and become lost. To this end the width of the blades is such that half the width or the distance between the pivot axis 36 and a side 43 of blade 23 is slightly greater than the radial distance from the pivot axis 36 to the closest peripheral edge of the locking pin 46. Thus even though the blades are opened to about 90 position, the side 43 of the blade 23 still covers a small portion of this pin 46 preventing its removal.

Similarly as best shown in FIG. 2, the blade 27 has a side 47 which has a transverse dimension from the pivot axis 36 which is slightly greater than the distance from pivot axis 36 to the closest peripheral edge of the locking pin 46. Accordingly, this locking pin cannot be removed even though the blades 27 and 31 are opened to a full 90 position. Similarly it will be noted that the actuating pins 50 and 56 are held captive in all positions although if desired, these pins may be made of hardened plastic which is slightly deformable and the opening for the locking means 47 may be positioned so that these actuating pins 50 and 56 could be forced out of their respective openings if this is deemed desirable for replacement purposes. The locking pin 46 is preferably of hard material such as metal for good wear resistance.

Each of the actuating pins 50 and 56 is provided with head means shown as 51 and 57, respectively. This could be a tapered head rather than a shouldered head so long as it has a surface engageable with a wall of the respective opening to limit outward movement of such actuating pin. Similarly the openings 38 and 40 in the blades 23 and 27 could be shouldered rather than having a slight taper. As best shown in FIG. 6, there is a means to arrest movement of the actuating pin 50 when the actuating pin 56 is pushed to push the locking pin 46 to the position shown in this figure. This arresting means is the fact that the enlarged head 51 engages the wall of the tapered opening 40. The parts are so dimensioned that when this movement is arrested, the upper end of the locking pin 46 will be positioned at the parting plane between blades 23 and 31. This unlocks these two blades so that one may perform the straight cutting function of the scissors. Conversely, when the actuating pin 50 is depressed, then the enlarged head 57 engages the tapered opening 38 to arrest movement of the locking pin 46 at a position whereat the lower end of this locking pin 46 is at the parting plane between blades 27 and 31. This unlocks these two blades permitting the operator to operate the scissors in a pinking cut operation. If desired the enlarged heads 51 and 57 may be made slightly larger to slightly out of registry with the opening 42 when the scissors are closed in order to act as an arresting means to assure that two of the blades are unlocked and the end of the locking pin is positioned at one of the two parting planes.

It will thus be seen that the objects of the present invention are carried out, in that a convenient and reliable locking means are provided for locking desired blades together and it will be also apparent that the locking means can be conveniently and economically mass produced.

Although this invention has been described in its preferred form with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

I claim:

1. In a pair of scissors having a straight cutting blade, a pinking blade and a combined straight cutting and pinking blade sandwiched therebetween and all pivotally connected by a common pivot,

the provision of locking means for selectively locking the combined blade to either the straight cutting blade or the pinking blade,

said locking means comprising wall means defining openings extending through each of said blades which openings are in register with each other in the closed condition of the scissors,

a locking pin residing in the opening in said combined blade and being slightly longer than the last mentioned opening,

said locking pin being movable between a first position whereat the locking pin extends into the opening in the straight cutting blade to lock same to the combined blade and a second position whereat the locking pin extends into the opening in the pinking blade to lock same to the combined blade,

a first actuating pin carried in the opening in the pinking blade and having one end portion engageable with said locking pin to move same to said first position and having another end portion extending exteriorly of said opening within which it resides whereat it may be manipulated by an operator of the scissors,

a second actuating pin carried in the opening in the straight cutting blade and having one end portion engageable with said locking pin to move same to said second position and having another end portion extending exteriorly of said opening within which it resides whereat it may be manipulated by an operator of the scissors.

2. The locking means claimed in claim 1, wherein means are provided for preventing removal of said actuating pins from the openings within which they reside.

3. The locking means claimed in claim 1, wherein said actuating pins are provided with slightly enlarged inner ends and the openings within which they reside taper to a smaller diameter toward the exterior of the scissors which smaller diameter is smaller than the slightly enlarged inner ends of said actuating pins thereby preventing removal of said pins from said openings.

4. A locking means for a pair of scissors having first, second and third blades pivoted together, comprising wall means defining openings extending laterally through each of said blades which openings are aligned in a predetermined pivotal position of said blades,

a locking member residing in said opening of said third blade and being longer than said last mentioned opening,

said locking member being movable between first and second positions and in said first position residing in the openings in said first and third blades to lock said last two mentioned blades together and in said second position residing in the openings in said second and third blades to lock said last two mentioned blades together, and means for moving said locking members in translation between said first and second positions.

5. A locking means as claimed in claim 4, wherein said means for moving said locking member comprises first and second actuating members located in the openings in said first and second blades respectively, and having interior ends in position to engage said locking member to move same and having exterior ends outside of said blades adapted to be engaged by an operator of said scissors.

6. A locking means as claimed in claim 4, wherein said locking member is a cylindrical pin.

7. A locking means as set forth in claim 4, wherein said blades have a given width at their pivotal interconnection,

said locking means being spaced from said pivotal interconnection a distance less than half the width of said blades to thereby preclude ready removal of the locking member from said third blade in all pivotal positions of said blades.

8. A locking means as claimed in claim 7, wherein said locking member is a cylindrical pin and one circumferential edge portion of said cylindrical pin is covered by the edge of the width dimension of the first or the second blade for all pivotal positions of said blades.

9. A locking means as claimed in claim 4 wherein said opening in said third blade has an axis substantially parallel to the pivotal axis of said blades. I

10. A locking means as claimed in claim 5 wherein said blades have a given width dimension,

said locking member being spaced from the axis of the pivotal interconnection of the blades a distance only slightly less than half the width of said blades to thus preclude easy removal of said first and second actuating members in all positions of said blades.

11. A locking means as claimed in claim 10, wherein said first and second actuating members are of hardened plastic material which is capable of slight deformation for removal from the openings in said first and second blades.

12. A locking means as claimed in claim 5, including head means on the interior ends of said first and second actuating members engageable with the walls of the openings in said first and second blades to preclude movement of said first and second actuating members completely out of the respective openings.

13. A locking means as claimed in claim 5, including means to prevent said first actuating member from movement completely out of the opening in said first blade upon pushing actuation of said locking member by said second actuating member and to arrest movement of said locking member with one end thereof substantially at the parting plane between said second and third blades.

14. A locking means as claimed in claim 13, wherein said arresting means includes head means on said first actuating member engaging the wall of the opening in said first blade. 

1. In a pair of scissors having a straight cutting blade, a pinking blade and a combined straight cutting and pinking blade sandwiched therebetween and all pivotally connected by a common pivot, the provision of locking means for selectively locking the combined blade to either the straight cutting blade or the pinking blade, said locking means comprising wall means defining openings extending through each of said blades which openings are in register with each other in the closed condition of the scissors, a locking pin residing in the opening in said combined blade and being slightly longer than the last mentioned opening, said locking pin being movable between a first position whereat the locking pin extends into the opening in the straight cutting blade to lock same to the combined blade and a second position whereat the locking pin extends into the opening in the pinking blade to lock same to the combined blade, a first actuating pin carried in the opening in the pinking blade and having one end portion engageable with said locking pin to move same to said first position and having another end portion extending exteriorly of said opening within which it resides whereat it may be manipulated by an operator of the scissors, a second actuating pin carried in the opening in the straight cutting blade and having one end portion engageable with said locking pin to move same to said second position and having another end portion extending exteriorly of said opening within which it resides whereat it may be manipulated by an operator of the scissors.
 2. The locking means claimed in claim 1, wherein means are provided for preventing removal of said actuating pins from the openings within which they reside.
 3. The locking means claimed in claim 1, wherein said actuating pins are provided with slightly enlarged inner ends anD the openings within which they reside taper to a smaller diameter toward the exterior of the scissors which smaller diameter is smaller than the slightly enlarged inner ends of said actuating pins thereby preventing removal of said pins from said openings.
 4. A locking means for a pair of scissors having first, second and third blades pivoted together, comprising wall means defining openings extending laterally through each of said blades which openings are aligned in a predetermined pivotal position of said blades, a locking member residing in said opening of said third blade and being longer than said last mentioned opening, said locking member being movable between first and second positions and in said first position residing in the openings in said first and third blades to lock said last two mentioned blades together and in said second position residing in the openings in said second and third blades to lock said last two mentioned blades together, and means for moving said locking member in translation between said first and second positions.
 5. A locking means as claimed in claim 4, wherein said means for moving said locking member comprises first and second actuating members located in the openings in said first and second blades respectively, and having interior ends in position to engage said locking member to move same and having exterior ends outside of said blades adapted to be engaged by an operator of said scissors.
 6. A locking means as claimed in claim 4, wherein said locking member is a cylindrical pin.
 7. A locking means as set forth in claim 4, wherein said blades have a given width at their pivotal interconnection, said locking means being spaced from said pivotal interconnection a distance less than half the width of said blades to thereby preclude ready removal of the locking member from said third blade in all pivotal positions of said blades.
 8. A locking means as claimed in claim 7, wherein said locking member is a cylindrical pin and one circumferential edge portion of said cylindrical pin is covered by the edge of the width dimension of the first or the second blade for all pivotal positions of said blades.
 9. A locking means as claimed in claim 4 wherein said opening in said third blade has an axis substantially parallel to the pivotal axis of said blades.
 10. A locking means as claimed in claim 5 wherein said blades have a given width dimension, said locking member being spaced from the axis of the pivotal interconnection of the blades a distance only slightly less than half the width of said blades to thus preclude easy removal of said first and second actuating members in all positions of said blades.
 11. A locking means as claimed in claim 10, wherein said first and second actuating members are of hardened plastic material which is capable of slight deformation for removal from the openings in said first and second blades.
 12. A locking means as claimed in claim 5, including head means on the interior ends of said first and second actuating members engageable with the walls of the openings in said first and second blades to preclude movement of said first and second actuating members completely out of the respective openings.
 13. A locking means as claimed in claim 5, including means to prevent said first actuating member from movement completely out of the opening in said first blade upon pushing actuation of said locking member by said second actuating member and to arrest movement of said locking member with one end thereof substantially at the parting plane between said second and third blades.
 14. A locking means as claimed in claim 13, wherein said arresting means includes head means on said first actuating member engaging the wall of the opening in said first blade. 